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New Toyota research facility to be 'green'
Automaker seeking gold certification for energy efficiency
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: July 17, 2008
Bruce Brownlee
With a move-in date scheduled for next month, the new Toyota Technical Center in York Township is expected to be a "green" facility, said Bruce Brownlee, the automaker's senior executive administrator for external affairs.
Addressing members of the Milan Area Chamber of Commerce at a breakfast July 11 at the Milan Senior Center, Brownlee said the company is seeking gold certification through a "green building" rating system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED.
The new 350,000-square-foot facility will have been constructed of building material sourced from within a 500-mile radius, Brownlee said, and includes features that will result in a 40 percent reduction in water use. Waterless urinals, for example, will save 100 gallons of water a day, he said. The facility's interior design employs low-emitting paints and adhesives, an under-floor air system and carpeting made of 50 percent post-industrial recycled material.
Building materials from the razed Ypsilanti Psychiatric Hospital that formerly occupied the site were crushed and used for new roads.
Bioswales will limit silt and storm water run-off.
"We tried to create a minimal environmental footprint," Brownlee said.
Toyota purchased the 690-acre parcel from the state in May 2006 for about $11 million after a legal dispute brought by a developer claiming to have made a higher bid was settled by the Michigan Supreme Court. Groundbreaking began last September.
The technical center consists of two parts: the engineering and design building and a safety test facility, which was not part of the original plan.
Toyota currently leases facilities for crash testing, but decided to include a crash test building on the York Township with capabilities for barrier impact, side impact and rear impact testing.
The master plan provides for the possibility of constructing a test track on the west side of Platt Road, but Brownlee said that was unlikely because Toyota currently employs a test track in Arizona.
Tours of the research facility, said Brownlee, will not be available.
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